The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has denied the Super League driven Florentino Perez the registration of its trademark after almost three years of legal battle, according to the documentation that El Periódico de España, from the Prensa Ibérica group, has had access to. A decision that implies that the competition project will not be able to exploit The Super League brand at European level, so will have to find a different name for the competitionif this ever becomes a reality.
The reason for the rejection of the trademark registration is the opposition of the Danish league, called Superligaen and whose trademark is Superliga. The EUIPO, after a process full of resources and extended deadlines that began in July 2021, has proved the main competition in Denmark rightwhich understood that the similarity of The Super League’s brand conflicted with the rights of its own, registered in the EU many years before.
The organization based in Alicante understands in its resolution that “the contested mark [The Super League] could obtain an unfair advantage from the distinctive character or reputation of the earlier mark”in reference to the Danish Super League, given, mainly, the recognition and good image enjoyed by the national competition in Denmark and the graphic and phonetic similarity of the two brands.
The decision, however, can be appealed before the EUIPO itself and it is likely that the promoters of the Super League will exhaust resources to try to save the registration of their trademark. This resolution, signed last Thursday and communicated to the parties on Friday, also comes a few days before the Super League trial against UEFA and FIFA takes place, whose oral hearing is scheduled this Thursday in a court in Madrid.
Almost three years of legal dispute
The dispute over the Superliga brand started in April 2021, when the then 12 founding clubs of the Superliga (soon they would be reduced to three: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus) They registered that trademark before the EUIPO, just three days before publicly announcing its launch, causing a huge commotion in continental football.
In the month of July, the Danish league reacted to the registration of The Super League trademark by writing an opposition letter to the EUIPO. In their communication to the European organization, from Denmark they argued that They had the license to use the term Superligaen since 2013 (a name they had been using since 2010) and that the creation of a league with an almost identical name can harm them in different contexts, taking advantage of their prestige in the country or even damaging their image.
On September 2 of that same year, the EUIPO admitted the Danish Super League’s appeal for processing. The reaction of the company managed at that time by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus (the Italians are no longer part of the project, although Naples has recently emerged as a candidate to join) was put yourself in the hands of the specialized firm Isern Patentes y Marcas, whose headquarters are in Barcelona.
Failure in negotiations
It started then a “cooling off” period, intended for the parties to reach an agreement between them, which could legally extend for two years. However, after two and a half months of talks, Denmark estimated in February 2022 that there was no possibility of reaching an agreement that satisfied it and chose to break the deck, taking the case to the end.
During the last two years, the case has been entangled with appeals, requests for extension of places and requirements for documentation by the EUIPO until leading to the resolution now known, which will force the Super League to have to look for another name for the competition that he wants to promote and that currently has the public support of only three teams: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Naples.
2024-03-11 21:01:37
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